Biden Withdraws Another Nominee Over Concerns About Qualifications And Safety
When the POTUS enjoys a Senate majority, his nominees should breeze through, but...
When a President has a Senate majority backing him up, it’s a bad sign of how confident the Senate is in the President’s nominees when the a single nominee for an important position is blocked, let alone several.
But as we saw several weeks ago, Phil Washington, whatever other fine qualities he might have as a person, is singularly unqualified for overseeing the FAA.
There might be some industries where we have time and patience for a steep on-the-job learning curve. But the safety of air travel — especially with a series of near misses — should not be one of them.
Will this presidential election be the most important in American history?
That was the argument of many GOP critics of this nominee, and — after his spectacular and viral failures during the hearings — even some Democrats lost confidence in Washington’s ability to step into such an important role.
When Buttigieg announced the withdrawal of this nominee on Saturday night, he blamed ‘partisan attacks’.
Aviation site, AIN Online had a different perspective:
However, Republicans in both the Senate and the House raised objections over his experience, saying the FAA is facing numerous challenges that required a person with a strong aviation background. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), the ranking Republican on the Senate Commerce Committee, led the objections calling him the wrong person for the job.
Also clouding the nomination was a corruption probe ongoing stemming from Washington’s time as CEO of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The California Attorney General’s office confirmed to Cruz that Washington was a “material” part of this probe.–AINOnline
Additionally, since this role legally requires civilian oversight, the House would have had to grant a waiver, which it was unlikely to provide in this instance.
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